Unknown vandals have set fire to a mosque in Jerusalem amidst a wave of increasing attacks by Jewish settlers. In addition to the arson, the mosque was defaced with anti-Arab slurs and the “price tag” slogan associated with the settler campaign to vandalize Palestinian property. The incident comes hours after a group of settlers broke into an Israeli army base in the West Bank and destroyed property in an apparent protest against the dismantling of unauthorized outposts erected beyond the massive Jewish settlement blocs that already carve up Palestinian land. An Israeli army spokesperson said the settlers had been violent.

Col. Avital Liebowitz: “Over the night, some 50 rioters infiltrated into a military base in Judea and Samaria, the Ephraim Regional Brigade, where they acted in a very violent manner, throwing tires, laying nails on the roads and hurling rocks at some soldiers and commanders. The IDF sees this incident in a very severe manner. We’re working currently to cooperate with other security organizations in the country in order to investigate this matter.”